Bad Touch
by Jezz-Ra
Summary: Written as a response to Mikkeneko's April Fool's Day Challenge on Kuroxfai LJ Comm.  Prompt was "Public Display of Affection."


Bad Touch

Written by Jezz-Ra

Warnings - Not all warnings apply to all chapters. Yaoi, Violence, Language, brief Sexual Content

Disclaimer - I don't own Tsubasa or anything CLAMP related, don't make money off it. Wish I did.

Challenge - Written for Mikkeneko's April Fool's Day Fic Challenge. Prompt "Public Display of Affection".

My other stories can be found under my author profile at any of my archive sites.

Archived at - jezz-ra. livejournal. com, adultfanfiction. net, fanfiction. net, and mediaminer. org

Questions or Comments? Email me at megami _ no _ remon hotmail. com ((remove spaces))

/ Blah / indicates thoughts.

A/N - As with all the April Fools Day challenge fics, the goal was to take the original prompt (in my case, a public display of affection, and still fulfill the challenge while also writing something that turns said challenge completely backwards and inside out from it's intended purpose. This fic is set post-series, but shouldn't have spoilers. So, without further ado...and hopefully in a one-shot and not multiple chapters because I don't know when to shut up...

(Also, blame the chat room I was in for the fic title. I needed a song-related title, since it's tradition for my fics...hehe... Y'all know who you are.)

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Fai let out a little yelp as he skidded to a stop across the smooth, glassy tile floor, sucking in his belly and throwing himself backwards. Only his almost unnaturally fast reaction saved him. The little metal barbs shot in front of him close enough to tear the front of his white shirt, exploding with electrical discharge as they smacked into the viewscreen to his left. Fai darted across the open space the moment he got his feet back under him properly. The man who had fired at him cursed and scrambled for another weapon, but the mage was too fast. Fai ducked cleanly under his first swing, never losing momentum and whirling in a roundhouse kick to the back of his attacker's head that would have done Syaoran proud. The shooter dropped like a rock.

There was a loud noise and then a terrible smell of burnt wire as the circuit overloaded. The image - pictures of himself and Kurogane - distorted weirdly for a moment before going blank as the viewscreen flickered off.

"STOP!" a man further down the hall demanded as he flew around the corner and caught sight of Fai. His fingers flew up, tapping his earbud. "Perpetrator 11050-E sighted in Level Four near the cafeteria!"

The mage ran down the curving corridor, nimbly dodging a couple of startled civilians. He wanted to curse as he heard the people immediately crying out that they had just seen him, the wanted man. / You certainly are making it difficult for me to dodge pursuit.../ he grumbled to himself.

The hallway ended abruptly in few sets of electronic glass doors. The left side led towards the fitness center, the right led towards the stairs leading up and down to the other levels, and the ones straight ahead led to the cafeteria.

The sounds of pursuit behind him made Fai's mind up and he didn't slow to give the doors time to acknowledge his presence and slide open. He put on an extra burst of speed and leapt towards the doors, tucking his head down as his body turned, doing an aerial somersault and taking the full impact on his shoulders.

The door shattered with a spectacular sound. Fai winced as his momentum carried him through. The glass was thicker than he had expected and his shoulders now hurt tremendously. Oh well. Time to worry about that later.

He landed in a skid amidst the shower of glass, his arms snapping out to help him regain his balance. For one heart-stopping moment he was sure he was going to go down amidst the glass - and wouldn't THAT feel horrible? - but he regained his balance and managed to keep moving forward.

To the stunned people in the cafeteria, it looked much more impressive, like something out of a movie. The wizard came crashing through out of nowhere and never slowed, landing lightly on his feet and launching forward as if he hadn't just flipped himself through the glass, all within the span of a second or two.

Fai cursed inwardly at all the people standing around or sitting at the long tables gawking at him, all of them blocking his progress. His sharp eyes locked on the door on the other end of the room and he made a beeline for it. Since the floor was too crowded, he hopped up on the table and took off running across it's length, impossibly avoiding every tray and drink laid out in his path. He leapt from table to table as he continued his headlong flight.

The large overhead screen in the center of the cafeteria again flashed warnings, and Fai slid to a stop and almost choked as he stared, his cheeks abruptly flaming. He still couldn't believe they were showing things like this in PUBLIC, in the middle of the cafeteria at dinnertime, where EVERYONE could see. A woman's calm voice was reporting the details for all to hear.

Fai's hesitation cost him, however. He snapped his eyes from the screen, too late to notice the officer that had appeared behind him. A tremendous jolt went through his body as the taser barbs dug into his back. He lost control of his muscles and toppled over, upsetting several lunches as he rolled to the ground with a thump and lay there twitching, covered in food, and never feeling quite so embarrassed in all his life before unconsciousness took him.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Fai, Syaoran, Kurogane, and Mokona had arrived in Haven about five days prior. The lot of them had landed in their latest new world with a tremendous splash, having ended up smack dab in the middle of the community pool.

Fai had choked almost instantly, the sting of chlorine burning his eyes. This wasn't the first time they'd ended up wet upon a new world entry, but it WAS the first time they'd ended up in a pool. He surfaced about the same time as Kurogane exploded up above the water.

"I thought you were going to WORK on your landings, you damned pork bun! Wh-" Kurogane's roar slowly tapered off along with his rage at Mokona as he joined Fai and Syaoran in staring at their surroundings.

It was obvious to the lot of them that they had landed in a very technologically advanced world. The room itself was huge and open. The walls and floors were made of a similar material, although what it was exactly was uncertain. The walls were white and the floors a light gray, and both looked as though they had been covered with a thick layer of glass.. Lighting strips ran along the inside of the walls near the ceiling, although they were glowing only dimly. Large skylights revealed patches of blue sky and let in plenty of sunlight.

Seamlessly integrated into the walls were large television screens on either side of the room. A woman's face took up most of the screen. She was calmly finishing a report on the weather and just moving on to talk about the dinner that would be served in the cafeteria that evening when the first shocked onlooker reacted to the little group's splashing entrance.

Fai winced as a woman screamed, and it set off a chain reaction of other people panicking and scrambling for the doors. Even the people were strange, the wizard noted - they all were wearing identical white tracksuits, although they had various different colored stripes down the sides.

They were all jerked out of their respective contemplation when three men wearing black came rushing over. All had some sort of device in their ear and they were brandishing some sort of device towards the travelers. Fai wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but they looked vaguely similar to small guns and the men obviously considered them some form of protection if the way they were brandishing them were any indication.

"Great," Kurogane huffed before he started making his way towards the edge of the pool, apparently not at all concerned with their welcoming committee.

"Stop where you are!" one of the men demanded. Kurogane arched an eyebrow slowly, his scowl deepening.

"Look, friend, I'm wearing a lot of armor and its not meant for splashing around in. I just want to get out of the damn water."

Fai smiled disarmingly at the three men, noting that one seemed to be murmuring something quietly while pressing on the device in his ear and watching them out of the corner of his eye. "We don't mean any of you any harm and we can understand why you're surprised to see us...but this coat is rather heavy as well. If you don't mind letting us out of this pool, we'd be happy to answer any of your questions."

The guards frowned and glanced each other before the one whom had been talking by himself spoke up. "The magistrate will see you. "

At this announcement, the other two guards relaxed, although they did not holster their weapons. The did lower them, however, and didn't make any attempt to prevent them from getting out of the pool. Mokona had already buried herself in Syaoran's cloak and apparently had gone unnoticed for now.

They were led out of the pool room and down the hall. Several panels of the wall were transparent windows, revealing a sprawling forest landscape far below them. The building they were in appeared to be huge, circular, and secluded. In the distance, they could just make out the sight of the ocean or a sea where it met rocky cliffs. Below was merely a forest of green treetops.

"What is this place?" Syaoran asked, eyes wide as he took in the view.

"Haven," one of their guards mumbled as the approached the end of the winding hallway. A set of glass double doors was in front of them. When they came to a stop in front of the doors for a moment, there was a soft beep and the doors slid open to admit them.

A short elevator ride later, they were heading into another room. Kurogane looked increasingly antsy, his fingers twitching near the hilt of his sword, although he refrained from grabbing it. Fai could understand his caution and trepidation - he was rather uncomfortable in the midst of so much unfamiliar technology too, although his own concerns were tempered with a great deal of curiosity. Fai almost laughed at the wide-eyed look stamped on Syaoran's face - the boy seemed intent on memorizing everything he saw. Fai could almost here the wheels in his head turning and felt pity for whomever would be the one to start answering all his questions. There would be many. Syaoran did love learning about different cultures, after all.

The next set of doors opened into a dim, cool office. A graceful, glass-like desk sat on one end in front of another set of windows, and a man sat behind it in a high-backed black leather chair. He looked rather mild-mannered and unassuming and was currently flipping through a small folder file.

"Magistrate, sir, these are the...guests," one of the guards said, nodding his head respectfully and then stepping back from the group of travelers as if presenting them.

"Oh! Yes. Please, sit down..." the magistrate said, giving them all an eager smile and gesturing to some chairs that seemed designed more for form than function. Still dripping - the guards hadn't paused to let them do anything about their drenched clothing - the three of them sat down.

The ensuing conversation took several hours. The group learned that they had landed in the middle of a containment facility named Haven. It was a secure tower that housed what little remained of the human population after a devastating plague, the result of biochemical warfare gone horribly awry, had swept the land, killing off roughly 98 percent of all human life in a matter of weeks. Many animal species had been devastated as well, although the plantlife was thriving.

Haven itself had been built as a secure facility against the threat of just such an occurrence - the rumblings and evidence of the devastating war had started well in advance of the actual attack. Several people had paid a great deal of money to move to the rather luxurious, technologically advanced tower with their families, although just as many had sneered at the concept, disbelieving anything quite so bad as global destruction would ACTUALLY happen.

The tower itself was huge, over a hundred stories tall. It was made on a grand scale with the latest advancements in technology at the time. With the exception of some of the lower levels or levels that didn't often see human traffic, the tower was crafted of thick panels of what appeared to be glass, even though it was significantly stronger, set between the thick metal supports and 'bones' of the tower. Between the glassy plates was a thick layer of a liquid, metal-like substance. With a few flicks of various switches, the color of the metal could be changed. The walls were generally kept a bright, reflective white during the day and dimmed to a dark gray or black at night. With another button press, the liquid would recede into special reservoirs set along the edges of each plate, making a transparent window. The floors and ceilings were made much the same way, although they were not able to change color or become transparent and usually stayed a flat, neutral tone.

Early on after the war, several search teams had left Haven in the hopes of finding more survivors, those few humans that had had the rare genetic makeup to survive the ravages of the plague. Once in a while, pockets of survivors were found and brought back to live in the tower. The successful rescue attempts dwindled over time, however - no new survivors had been found in the past fifty years. The dangerous expeditions into the outside world had slowed accordingly and almost stopped altogether.

The world beyond the sealed doors of the tower city was beautiful, now...nature had reclaimed most of the land with thriving forests and blankets of flowers and greenery...and it was fatal. Anyone that was not resistant to the plague would be dead within a week of being cast out into the tainted environment. The biological chemicals had been dispersed aerially but had eventually gotten into the water. The water had spread, fed the plants, and forever changed the world to a toxic place that no longer would support human life.

There was a massive greenhouse facility and livestock facility at ground level where the food supply was cultivated and cared for. Massive and carefully tended filtration machines purified the water. Scientists worked endlessly to come up with new and better ways to cleanse the soil and raise better crops in the limited space provided.

Strict laws had been imposed once the fact registered that this was one of the last bastions of humanity, laws and a rigid code of conduct that all agreed was necessary to survive. Resources and space were finite. There could be no room in such a closed, trapped society for crime, greed, and many of the other vices of mankind. Individuality was by no means outlawed - people were encouraged to pursue whatever hobbies they enjoyed - but personal possessions were largely disallowed.

Everyone was issued the same general room, the same furnishings, the same clothing. There were no stores, no money. All able-bodied adults worked five days a week doing some service for the community. They were not assigned jobs but rather were allowed to take what work best suited them or their interests. Those that took the less desirable jobs - the dirty jobs, as it were - were rewarded by having less work hours in a week and more free time to do as they pleased. Meals were served in the cafeteria three times a day. Everyone was encouraged to spend at least an hour a day doing some sort of exercise to keep themselves healthy and fit.

There was nothing to be greedy over. No one suffered. Everyone did their part and got everything they needed in return. Their free time was theirs to do as they pleased within the community facilities - sports, games, books, artwork, music...all manner of recreation and pursuits.

Of course, no society was without some criminal element. Haven was policed by men in black like those that had picked up Fai, Kurogane, and Syaoran - the Community Service Officers, or CSOs. The duty of a CSO was to patrol the various levels of the tower and watch over the people to make sure the rules were being obeyed. Anyone that noticed something out of the ordinary could report to any CSO and get an immediate response. They were always nearby.

If it was a simple rule infraction, a note would be made and put into the record and a warning issued. Repeat offensive behavior would result in varying degrees of punishment, ranging from extra community service and public apology to outright banishment or execution, depending on the severity of the crime. Such extreme action had only been needed a mere handful of times in the many years of Haven's existence, however.

All in all, it worked. Every part of life and living was carefully managed, and because of it, people survived in peace despite the loss of many personal freedoms. If there were any other civilizations similar to Haven, they had not been found and no contact had ever been made. With the outside world promising a swift death, what choice did people really have anyway? Most of them had been born here and lived under the rules of Haven's society anyway, and knew no other way to live.

It was a lot to absorb. Such a civilization was far beyond the scope of anything that any of them had ever imagined. The question inevitably came up on who they were and where they had come from. All eyes turned to Fai, and the wizard glibly made up a story on the spot. He claimed they were from a land far, far from this one. They were born there in a small community that lived in a facility similar to this one, but far less advanced. The three of them had been examining a new piece of experimental technology designed to help transport things from a distance to minimize time people had to spend out in the wild, but it had malfunctioned and instead sent them here.

Syaoran and Kurogane exchanged a glance but said nothing. The magistrate stared at them for a long moment before exchanging a similar glance with the three CSOs still in the room. "Well... I suppose that makes as much sense as anything. How else would you appear in the middle of the pool out of nowhere? You certainly couldn't have entered any other way without having been noticed. Where is it that you come from? There are other survivors?"

Fai smiled thinly. "I'll be happy to tell you all about it in the near future...but for now, if you're convinced we mean you no harm...I'd really like to get into something warm and dry and perhaps rest for a bit."

The magistrate eyed them for a few moments before nodding. "I understand. I'll have my CSOs escort you to rooms you can use. I'm afraid you may be stuck here, potentially for the rest of your lives, so you may as well get comfortable. Stand, please."

The three of them stood and one of the CSOs walked over, pulling a small black device from his belt and waving it slowly in front of each of them. He then picked up a thin glass plate and touched the end of the device to it. Fai couldn't see what it was doing, exactly, but he heard the plate make a soft beep and saw images flash across it briefly.

Kurogane eyed the man suspiciously. "What's that for?"

The officer glanced over at him. "You'll need clothes. I did a simple body scan. Something that will fit you will be in your room before you will."

The ninja blinked. "Oh."

"Come this way, please," another of the officers said. They were led back k to the elevator and down several floors to one of the dormitories. As they walked, the CSO informed them of the basic way of life as they struggled to keep up. "We're going to give you the same treatment we give most of the survivors we found. These are your rooms here. To open the door you just press here," he gestured to a square, lit button, "and you're in. There's a directory on the viewscreen in each of your rooms that lists where whatever facility you're looking for is located, as well as mealtimes and whatnot. You can also find a full list of all community laws - I recommend you listen to the presentation. You'll be expected to follow the rules, and ignorance is no excuse. We all have to work together and failure to comply doesn't hurt just you, but everyone. Just because you're new doesn't mean we'll be lenient."

"Of course," Fai smiled and nodded. "That's perfectly reasonable."

The CSO nodded and continued his brief tour of the room. Each room had a twin-size bed, a set of shelves, a dresser, a small closet,an endtable, and a small bathroom with a sink, shower and toilet. A viewscreen was embedded in the wall. Off at the moment, it showed only a small bar of scrolling electronic text that showed the time, weather, and other minor pieces of interest.

True to the CSO's earlier word, there were already clothes for them in each of their rooms that fit as though they had been custom tailored. They were each left alone to their own devices, told to watch the program containing the community rules and said they'd be given some time to adjust to their new lives before they were more fully integrated into the community.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Things went relatively without incident for the next several days. Despite the rules being strict and inflexible, life was simple and laid back in Haven. Everyone seemed friendly and, after the initial shock of their entry, were eager to talk to them.

Of course, their release into society in general came only after they had been thoroughly scanned by medical teams to insure they were not infected or carrying any traces of the plague. They were questioned about the rules and more thoroughly questioned about where they had come from. The three of the had already talked over their cover story and decided on a few generic details. The rest, they would feign amnesia for, pretend like the unplanned trip had affected their memories. Lying didn't sit well with Kurogane, especially, but they all saw why it was necessary. None of them wanted to risk being chucked out the front door into a world that would kill them in short order.

After a week or so, the magistrate told Fai and Kurogane that they'd soon be given a list of available jobs that they could pick from to help contribute to society. Syaoran was deemed young enough that they wanted to put him into the school system. All in all, their integration into the new society was going smoothly enough.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Kurogane looked up with a dark scowl as his door slid open. The lighting strips that ran along the edge of the wall near the floor were dim, but it was still enough for him to clearly make out enough of Fai's features to identify him - his height, his slender and willowy frame, the too-long hair that almost always looked tousled and windblown, yet never completely messy...

"What are you doing here?" the ninja asked flatly, sitting up.

Fai pouted at him. "I was lonely, Kuro-rin. We haven't had the chance to be alone together in forever!"

"Its been barely over a week, not forever. Shouldn't you be in the cafeteria for dinner?"

"Shouldn't you?" Fai countered with a grin.

"I'm tired. I just started my job today and I wanted to take a nap," Kurogane groused, flopping back on his bed. "I hope that damned pork bun sees fit to take us out of here soon."

Fai immediately flopped onto him. "Perhaps I can...help you sleep?" the mage purred, trailing his hand up Kurogane's stomach and over his chest.

Kurogane stared at the wizard for a long time. "You know we aren't supposed to mess around like this. Didn't you watch that damned program about the laws and rules?"

Fai rolled his eyes and leaned forward to nuzzle Kurogane's throat before nipping him, drawing a surprised little noise from the ninja. "Really, Kuro-sexy, I don't think those particular rules apply to us. Besides, no one was around to see me come in here anyway. Relax and enjoy yourself, and if you don't make me scream too much, no one will ever know."

Kurogane let out an annoyed mock-growl for a moment before his arms curved around the lithe wizard laying on him. "Idiot," he murmured briefly before pulling him down into a heated kiss.

Fai let out a noise that was suspiciously like a purr as he returned the kiss eagerly, his hands starting to roam over Kurogane's chest as he slowly, deliciously ground his hips against the warrior in a decidedly lewd fashion. "And here I thought you were pretending you weren't interested...not all of you seems to agree with your words, Kuro-sexy..."

Kurogane gritted his teeth, his response stolen from him as the mage's nimble fingers began rubbing at him through his pants. "You talk too damn much..." he finally managed to gasp, his hands shifting so he could begin tugging at Fai's clothes.

He almost had the wizard's shirt off when the door exploded open.

Both Fai and Kurogane froze in disbelief and shock as two CSOs came flying into their room, tasers pointing at them. "Separate immediately! You are both under arrest!"

Fai recovered first, sitting up hastily and pulling his shirt down. "Hold on, hold on, this is some sort of misunderstanding, I think..."

"Silence! Get on the ground, now!"

Kurogane gave them a level glare and swung his legs around to the floor. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Get the hell out of my room."

"Sit back down, sir! Do not get up!"

Kurogane promptly ignored the command - he never had been very good with authority figures, after all - and got to his feet. The officer in front of him promptly fired his taser gun.

Kurogane and Fai promptly exploded into action. Kurogane's sword came out of nowhere. It was still sheathed, but the sheath apparently made an excellent weapon for clobbering. Fai leapt smoothly behind the other officer and had delivered a sharp blow to the back of his head. In unison, both of the CSOs hit the floor, unconscious.

"I thought you left the sword in Mokona, like we did with all our other things..."

"The hell with that." Kurogane glared darkly at the downed CSOs before a noise across the room startled them both. It was the sound of their television viewscreen turning on.

Immediately, the viewscreen lit up. The usual news woman was on the screen. "Warning. New Haven Citizens, 11050-E and 1322-D are currently wanted for criminal activity." The image of the news woman changed to portraits of Fai and Kurogane.

"What the FUCK?" Kurogane ground out incredulously. "Alright, look. I don't know where the hell the kid is at this time of day, but we need to find him. Now. He might have headed for dinner or he might still be in the library. I'll go to his room and get the pork bun and then check the library. You go to the cafeteria and we'll meet up back here. We need to get out of here NOW."

Fai nodded in agreement and they darted out of the room, pausing quickly to check Syaoran's room to make sure he hadn't returned. The wizard stumbled to a halt as he noticed that all along the hall, every single viewscreen was lit up - and there were MANY in the place - and all were showing the same newscast about Kurogane and himself. The mage's jaw dropped and he grabbed hold of Kurogane and pointed, however, too flabbergasted to speak, when the next bit of the news segment went on.

On the screen were rather graphic pictures of the two of them as they had been mere moments before they were interrupted, working on getting undressed, Fai's hand down Kurogane's pants, and their intent very obvious. Both men stared at the screen in disbelief.

Fai recovered first, although he was painfully aware of his blush , unable to look at the warrior at that moment. "I...I've heard of a public display of affection, but this ... this is ridiculous. They...they were WATCHING us in your ROOM?"

Kurogane snapped his attention back to the task at hand, mostly not wanting to have to look at the wizard or reveal the fact that he was blushing as well. "Get moving. Get to the cafeteria and find the kid, I'll head for the library."

"Right." Fai nodded, all business again, and took off down the hall. Kurogane paused only long enough to retrieve Mokona before heading off in the opposite direction.

It took almost no time at all for the pursuing CSOs to appear.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Fai's senses returned to him slowly. He realized he was sitting up, but his arms didn't want to move.. He struggled to lift his head, but everything was blurry.

The first thing he noticed was Kurogane's angry growl from nearby and consciousness returned abruptly. Kurogane, like himself, was handcuffed to a chair in the magistrate's office. A dozen CSOs, all with tasers, were standing around them and eying them warily.

"What the fuck is wrong with you people?" Kurogane growled, baring his teeth at everyone in general. Fai agreed rather wholeheartedly so didn't bother to say anything, pausing to look down at himself. Dear gods, he was a mess...and was that mashed potato in his hair? Ew.

The magistrate was glaring darkly at them from across the desk. "You both were well aware of our laws and customs here. You both stated you watched the programs in their entirety and understood."

Kurogane rolled his eyes. "Well, yeah, but..."

"No excuses!" the magistrate exclaimed angrily. "Any acts involving sexual intercourse and reproduction without a license and the appropriate grants are STRICTLY forbidden! Overpopulation is a very serious concern!"

Kurogane growled and jerked to his feet, taking the surprisingly heavy chair with him. "You fucking IDIOT! We're both MEN! We can't contribute to your damned overpopulation problem!"

Several CSOs walked in closer to Kurogane, yelling at the same time for him to sit back down or they'd shoot him again. With seething reluctance, the warrior obeyed.

"That's hardly the point. The law exists and no citizen is exempt from the rules or punishment!"

Fai noticed the viewscreen still across the room. Images of himself and Kurogane were still flashing across the screen, although the woman was announcing that all three of the newcomers were now in custody. / All three? / The mage slowly swiveled his gaze to the other side of the room.. It took all he had not to burst out laughing.

Syaoran was staring at the screen in frozen, near-zombified horror. His cheeks were almost painfully red, his eyes were huge and glassy, his jaw had dropped, and his expression stated very clearly that he was sure he'd need years of therapy and gallons of brain bleach to destroy what he had seen.

Fai bit his lip to hide his amusement. / Well, we DID keep our relationship a secret from him, I suppose it might come as a bit of a shock... / He turned his attention to the situation at hand before things boiled over further, interrupting Kurogane's mounting rage. He didn't want them both to end up tased or worse. "Well, we can't deny that we were breaking that rule, even if we didn't really think about it being applicable to us. Your ways are not the ways we're used to. What's going to be our punishment?"

The magistrate tore his gaze from Kurogane and huffed, regaining his composure. "Yes, well, such an offense is severe. We're going to have to incarcerate you for a time. After your sentence is served, you will be required to perform extra community serv-"

"Mokona thinks its time to go."

The magistrate and the CSOs all jumped and exclaimed in shock and surprise as the furry little creature popped out of Syaoran's cloak, the earring on her ear glowing brightly.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"It's moving and talking! Is it alive? Sir, should we fire on it?"

Everything was drowned out in a rush of wind and a flash of brilliant light as Mokona's spell activated. The sounds of the yelling magistrate and the equally panicked CSOs faded to mere background noise as the world moved around them.

When everything cleared up, the four of them were sitting in a clearing. Syaoran was still gaping at Fai and Kurogane. Fai and Kurogane were still handcuffed to their chairs. The lot of them were sitting in the middle of a bright and sunny field full of grass and wildflowers.

Fai breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, I don't think I've been quite that glad to get out of a world in quite a while."

Kurogane let out another growl as he stood up, attempting to free himself from the chair. Syaoran finally snapped back to reality and walked over to help him, although he was bright red. At least he hadn't been handcuffed or bound - the boy had been brought in just because he had been with Kurogane when the ninja was finally brought down.

"S-so, how long have you two, uh, b-been..." Syaoran attempted after a long moment.

"A long time, kid. Before Outo."

Syaoran's response came out as a squeak, and Fai just burst out laughing and patted him on the back. "We thought we'd tell you when you were older."

Kurogane huffed. "With all the trouble we land in, the kid isn't likely to GET much older..."

Syaoran finally managed to get Kurogane free of the chair, although the cuffs were still going to be a problem. "Actually, I think I'm happy not knowing all the sordid details."

"They say ignorance is bliss," Fai commented with a laugh, having managed to twist himself free of the chair. A few moments later, he was idly twirling his handcuffs around one finger.

Kurogane stared at him. "How the fuck did you do that?"

Fai smiled wickedly. "Why Kuro-rin, I thought you knew how flexible I was. It was just a matter of dislocating my thumbs and twisting m-"

Syaoran held up a hand, cutting him off and wincing. Oh, everything either of them said was going to be taken in such a new light now... "Fai..." He shook his head and sighed. "Forget the trouble we find on other worlds... I don't think I'll be able to survive you two."


End file.
